Time Wounds All
by Kellifer
Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron. Mild SamJack UST canon Chapter nine and ten loaded. STORY COMPLETE.
1. Geek Week

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 1 - G (Later chapters to be advised)

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter One-

Jack hated Geek Week.

No, that wasn't entirely true. There were certain aspects of it that he did like. The fact that there were no teams offworld and therefore in danger was one of those. He also enjoyed downtime as much as the next man and although on base, for a week he wouldn't have to read mission briefings or sign the endless reams of paperwork that were usually piled in his in-tray.

What made him uncomfortable was the sheer number of … geeks in the SGC.

For one week every four to five months, all teams would be recalled and there would be no offworld missions. A complete diagnostic could be run on the Stargate to address any problems or faults they had experienced in that time. It was also a week where every scientist in the place would jostle to test out theories and new ideas concerning the 'gate that could not be risked at any other time.

First in line was always Samantha Carter.

Jack had attempted to surreptitiously schedule Sam's last leave to coincide with Geek Week, but she had found out and it was the closest to death Jack had ever come, Ba'al actually killing him aside. He had patiently allowed her to rant at him for over two hours about how vital her presence was for the week so she could run the tests she wanted to. When he had dared to propose that maybe some of the other scientists should be able to have a turn, Sam had used more colourful language than even he knew.

Jack smiled at the memory.

Frankly, he had to admit to himself, he would've been disappointed if her reaction had been anything but what it was. He simply enjoyed baiting her. The third hour of her tirade, Sam had realized this and had stormed out of his office.

Jack swung into Daniel's doorway and sighed. Daniel was slumped across his desk, dead to the world.

"Daniel!" Jack barked, grinning when the archeologist nearly slid from his stool in surprise.

"I'm awake!" Daniel exclaimed. Jack put a fist to his mouth to stop laughing when he noticed that there was the faint trace of writing across Daniel's right cheek where it had been pressing against a book. Jack then noticed that the page below was smudged. He strode into the room and smacked his hand down on the book before the younger man could notice the damage he'd accidentally done.

"How many times do I have to tell you that beds are for sleeping?" Jack smiled, lifting his hand to rescue the askew glasses about to slide from Daniel's face. He folded the arms and placed them carefully on the desk. Jack then looked at the book and groaned. "Ah, look what I did." He said. Daniel's eyes followed his and widened in horror.

"Jack! Christ, do you know how valuable this is?" Daniel pulled the book towards himself, hugging it to his chest. Jack composed his face to look properly chagrined and nodded. Daniel slid from his stool and crossed the room, holding the book up to one of his brighter lamps to assess the damage. He looked back at Jack and his eyes softened. "Just… try and be careful okay?"

"Of course." Jack nodded, knowing he had already been forgiven. He knew Daniel would never be as quick to forgive himself. Jack liked to protect his team, even from themselves. "I was going to try and drag Carter away from the 'gate long enough for a meal. Want to help me pry her fingers loose?"

"Sure." Daniel agreed quickly.

xxxxxx

"Daniel, you have-" Sam's hand floated up to her cheek but when she saw Jack vigorously shaking his head behind Daniel's shoulder, she dropped it. "-to help me with some translation later." She finished lamely. Daniel furrowed his brow but nodded. As they walked along the corridor Sam made sure she and Jack dropped a little behind. "Did someone write on him in his sleep again?"

Jack snorted. "Crashed out on a book."

"He's going to notice when he looks in a mirror and then we'll be in trouble for not telling him."

"I'm hoping to think of a brilliant way to get it off him without him knowing what we're doing." When Sam's face filled with confusion Jack elaborated. "He smudged a book and thinks it was me." Sam nodded in understanding and Jack felt a warm glow. He liked that he didn't need to explain further.

"You have something on your face DanielJackson." Jack winced when he heard Teal'c's voice. He looked up and smiled when he saw Teal'c grab Daniel by the jaw and rub his cheek clean with a sleeve. "It is gone now." He amended.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Jack laughed and Sam hid a grin behind her hand. Daniel was glaring at them both, which made them laugh harder.

Sitting in the commissary and with a astoundingly large bowl of Lemon Chicken to improve his sour mood, Daniel was quizzing Sam about her latest theories and what she had been doing with the 'gate. Jack had effectively tuned out until he heard her mentioning that she needed to go offworld. If he'd been a dog, his ears would have perked.

He dropped his last forkful of cake to his plate with a clatter. "There is no offworld travel during Gee… during diagnostic week."

"I know that's the case usually, Sir, but there are some tablets I need brought back from P4X-989. There were some photos of them and the translations have been helpful but incomplete. I'm hoping there are further writings. I also know what you were going to say." Sam waggled a finger at him.

"Be that as it may, there's no backup because we're not expecting anyone to go offworld. All the field units are currently off base."

"I'd only need Daniel and Teal'c. SG4 had no contact when they went there and there's no reason to believe with the MALP readings recovered that there are any hostiles, native or otherwise. The address is one of the one's off-the-map." Sam explained, using their term for a 'gate address that was presumed to be unknown to the Goa'uld, having been entered into their dialing computer by Jack himself when he had the Ancient knowledge downloaded into his brain.

"The answer is no, Carter. We can schedule you for next week."

"Sir, it'll be a cake run. In and out, no muss, no fuss. Any sign of hinkiness and we hightail it back to the 'gate." Sam was using Jack's words on him and he realized with a pang that Hammond must have heard him wheedle this exact way more times than he could count. He missed the days when Hammond had been on the receiving end of these arguments.

"Is there a reason you can't wait till next week?" Jack tried another tack, knowing that logic never worked on either Sam or Daniel when they were determined, but trying it regardless.

"I need to use the writings to run some tests and I can't do it when normal activity resumes. If I have to wait until the next Geek Week-" Sam smiled when Jack coloured. "I'll go crazy. Worse, I'll drive you crazy."

Jack glanced at Daniel who had opened his mouth and he knew he was about to be ganged up on. He held up his hands in placation. "Aerial MALP, and if there is no one, and I mean absolutely no one around, then you can go." Sam beamed and Jack held up a finger. "In and out. Grab the stuff and come back. I don't want to hear about disturbing a site." He glanced pointedly at Daniel who looked pained but nodded all the same.

"Alright. Get Siler to set up the MALP. You get an hour offworld max."

Jack could see both Daniel and Sam ready to protest and turned to Teal'c.

"You have my word O'Neill." He agreed for all of them.

xxxxxx

Jack could handle SG1 being late. That was normal.

An icy knife of fear touched his spine when the klaxons began to sound, heralding their early return instead. He was mentally preparing himself for one of them to be wounded.

He wasn't prepared for Teal'c stepping through the event horizon alone.


	2. The Return

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 2 - PG (Bad word)

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Two-

'My name is General Jack O'Neill and I've never been so fucking terrified.'

Nope, Jack thought. Not a good start for the report. He looked at the computer screen in front of him and removed the offending sentence.

Delete delete delete delete.

The phone rang and he scooped it off the cradle with one finger and brought it up to be cupped between his cheek and shoulder. Jack was thinking about getting one of those fancy headsets he saw some of the others in the office wearing. He was on the phone a lot more these days and it was giving him a pain in the neck, in more ways than one.

"How you doin' son?" The familiarity in the voice had Jack smiling the second he heard it, despite the current situation. He felt…relieved.

"Considering the circumstances, I'm doing okay, Sir." General Hammond had asked him time and again to be called George but Jack figured he was too old and stubborn to change. Hammond was also the only commanding officer he had ever respected and he figured that accorded the man using the title of 'Sir' for the rest of his days.

"No news?"

"Nothing yet. It's been seven days and we haven't gotten a demand…nothing. I would think if they were taken by the Goa'uld then the snakeheads would be asking for something by now, or we'd have heard who was holding them." Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair. He was being stoic and strong for the people of the SGC but he didn't mind Hammond hearing his frustration.

"But Teal'c is okay?"

Jack sighed heavily. "Far from it, but in the sense that he feels guilty for being the only one to have come back. He keeps insisting that he should return to the planet but we know they were taken off by ship. It would be useless." Teal'c had been pacing the halls of the SGC for the entire time Daniel and Sam had been missing, like a caged animal. Most had learned to keep out of his way.

"That sounds familiar." Jack could hear the smile in Hammond's voice.

"I just feel-"

"Completely useless?" Hammond finished the thought. "I know how that feels, son. Every time you and your team failed to come back through the 'gate I got to go through this. I know you were mostly fine or you would come back eventually but the waiting was never easy."

"They might not come back." Jack barked, his voice harsher than he had meant.

"Why do you think that? If I've learned anything, its that SG-1 is always resilient."

Jack could understand Hammond's attempts to comfort but it was grating on him. He needed to be on edge and not just trust that his teammates would come back. With a pang he realized he was mentally preparing for the worst. He shoved the morbid thought aside but it crept back like a shadow, draining any hope he had been holding onto.

The longer they were gone, the less chance they had of getting them back…whole and untouched.

xxxxxx

Daniel and Sam had been sitting on the ramp leading up to the Stargate for about five minutes before they were noticed. There had been no blinding flash of light or wormhole to announce their existence.

They were simply there.

One of the 'gateroom SFs raised her P90, hands trembling. "Hit the alarm." She breathed to the Sergeant standing by her who at first looked in the indicated directionthen made a blind lunge for the large red button. Klaxons sounded and suddenly the gateroom was full of people shouting and pointing weapons at the two prone figures.

The only silent figure in the whole room was Teal'c, who elbowed his way through the crowd and leant over his two friends. First checking that they were both breathing, he hefted them, one on each shoulder, as easily as if he were picking up children.

The medical gurneys had already arrived but Teal'c would not relinquish his burdens.

Daniel and Sam had come back this far on their own.

He would carry them the rest of the way.

xxxxxx

Jack missed Doctor Janet Frasier the most when one of his team was injured. Although the Doctor on duty, named Flannigan, was probably competent, he still sometimes wished for the familiarity and sure handed-ness of the woman who had been nicknamed 'Little Napoleon'.

Jack now stood in the observation room overlooking the isolation quarters. Two beds had been pushed into the single room and Daniel and Sam both lay, hooked up to various monitors and machines. Teal'c perched on a stool between them, one hand resting lightly on each bed. Doctor Flannigan had objected to his presence but had not been able to move the large Jaffa. She'd looked to Jack to order him out of the room but Jack had simply shrugged.

She'd been full of medical jargon and long words, half of which Jack thought she was making up so he had tuned her out, watching the two unconscious people below. The words 'minor brain damage' caused him to snap to attention.

"What?"

"I can't be entirely sure of the extent of damage done until they wake up but it looks like there was surgery involved."

"What!" Jack knew his voice had gotten suddenly very loud and shrill as the Doctor shrunk away from him a little. Jack held up his hands. "I'm sorry, you were saying there might be brain damage?" Jack felt himself go cold at the possibility.

"I'm saying there is brain damage. There's been neural trauma and pathways severed. The worst of it is centered mostly around the memory centers of the brain, as if whoever did this was looking for something in particular and messing up everything surrounding it. It doesn't make sense."

Jack was clutching his dog tags so tightly that later he would find little bloody furrows in his palms. "There's a lot about this that doesn't make sense, but medically what doesn't?"

The doctor flapped her hand in a helpless gesture. "The surgery performed looks to be far beyond our own current medical understanding, but appears hackneyed at the same time." Flannigan's brow furrowed. "It's like someone had the means and knowledge to do key-hole surgery but used a hammer and chisel anyway."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"Make them comfortable." Flannigan said and Jack decided that he liked this woman. She looked pained as her eyes fell on her patients and it reassured him that she actually cared. "Until they wake up, I can't really tell how bad it is."


	3. Awake

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 3 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Three-

The only person who could have removedTeal'c from his vigil was Jack himself, and he had done so, chasing him out of the room with the promise that he would sit in the same exact chair until Teal'c returned. The larger man left reluctantly still, promising that he would return as soon as he had eaten.

Jack stretched his legs out in front of himself and heard the knees pop. He hated stools and was looking around the room for a lower chair when he felt a light touch on his arm. He looked down and saw it was Daniel's hand that had brushed him as it had traveled towards his own face, probably intent on dislodging the oxygen mask. Jack arrested the straying hand before it could complete its journey. "Daniel?" He shook it gently.

Daniel's brows furrowed and then his eyes cracked open. They drooped closed again but Jack leaned over, resting a hand on his forehead. "Nope, no going to sleep again. I saw that." Jack accused gently, tapping Daniel's temple lightly with his fingers.

The eyelids rolled up again and this time Jack actually got to see a hint of blue before they screwed shut tightly. "Bright." Daniel protested in a croaky voice.

"Doc! We have one awake in here." Jack called. He started when he realized Flannigan was already behind him. She elbowed Jack out of the way, retrieving her penlight from her top pocket.

"Doctor Jackson? I want you to stay with us." She said in a voice that was at the same time gentle and authorative. Daniel reached up hands to protect his face when Flannigan tried prying one of his eyelids forcibly open. Jack crossed to the other side of the bed and again grabbed the flailing limbs to let Flannigan work.

"Doctor Jackson, do you know where you are?" Flannigan was now shining a penlight into Daniel's eye and he was trying to turn his head away.

"No, get off me!" He protested.

"Sounds like the same old Daniel to me." Jack was smiling, allowing himself to feel a small measure of relief, but Flannigan gave him a tense look.

Don't get your hopes up, it said.

xxxxx

Sam had come around only a few minutes after Daniel and Doctor Flannigan had chased everyone out of the isolation room except for medical staff. Jack had met Teal'c returning from the commissary in the corridor and they had both retreated to the viewing room.

"Doctor Flannigan indicated that DanielJackson and Colonel Carter could sustain permanent effects." There was real concern in Teal'c's tone and Jack put a hand to his shoulder, knowing that Teal'c was still blaming himself for what had happened, and most especially for returning unharmed.

"Well Daniel seems his normal pain-in-the-ass self." Jack observed, watching as the nurses and doctors worked below. Daniel was still agitated but a sedative they had given him seemed to be slowing him down. Sam was already sitting up, responsive and polite as always. She kept giving furtive glances towards the viewing window that would look like a mirror to her, and her brow was furrowed in confusion. The look on her face was driving a black wedge into Jack's optimism. He didn't recognize the expression and he thought he had the range of Carter-isms down.

Doctor Flannigan appeared in the doorway and both men turned to her as one. "What's up Doc?" Jack grinned and Teal'c treated him to a tired eyebrow raise.

"We'll have to run more tests, Sir. There's…reason for concern."

Jack's face fell and he could feel Teal'c tense beside him. "Concern?" Jack grimaced when his voice broke on the word. He'd already heard the words 'brain damage' and knew that Daniel and Sam could probably deal with any permanent physical injury, but if their minds were affected…

He didn't want to think about it.

"While Colonel Carter is responsive and recognizes her surroundings, Doctor Jackson seems to be extremely stressed because he doesn't." Doctor Flannigan took a deep breath and plowed on before she could be interrupted. "This is all very preliminary, but Colonel Carter couldn't name the year it was, but she knew who the president was. I couldn't get a straight answer from Doctor Jackson at all but am hoping to ascertain more when he is calm."

"Christ, Daniel's already done the whole amnesia thing." Jack sighed, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"I can't say for certain this is the case here. It's possible what they are suffering is temporary. I'll have to do some more tests." Doctor Flannigan swept out of the room, her mind already back on her patients.

The klaxons began to sound, heralding offworld activation.

Another day in the office, Jack thought wryly.

xxxxxx

"About a year." Sam's voice was hollow and her eyes haunted. According to all the tests they had run she had actually lost time, but looked older because of it. Seemingly pulled from her mind were large chunks of memory, the largest being the last twelve months. Sam's hands were folded neatly in her lap and she was avoiding Jack's steady gaze.

Jack thought that was a bad sign.

"Who…?" Sam began but her voice was barely a breath.

"We don't know Carter. We were hoping you could tell us that."

Her eyes snapped up to his and there was anger replacing the dullness. For a second Jack felt a little thrill of happiness. Anything was better than the mute acceptance he had seen cloud her. "I've had the last year of my life strip-mined out of brain. How, exactly, am I supposed to know who did it?"

"Is it just the last twelve months?" Jack winced at the word 'just', like losing that much of your life would be such a casual thing. He saw the anger flare in Sam for a second longer and then it died out, replaced by something empty and infinitely worse.

"I don't know exactly. I feel like my brain is a minefield at the moment, full of nasty little surprises. The last year is the most obvious thing, but I've lost some other things as well."

"Like?" Jack prompted, dropping a hand on Sam's shoulder. He was relieved to see that she didn't flinch at the touch.

"I couldn't remember what the colour blue looked like until someone held it up in front of me and named it." Sam huffed a shaky breath. "Can you imagine?"

Jack felt his skin go cold. He knew Sam losing such a large chunk of memory was horrible, but he hadn't realized it was possible to lose something so fundamental as a colour. He was worried about what else could possibly have been obliterated if something so specific had gone.

"How's Daniel?" Sam asked, worry creasing her brow.

"I don't know. He hasn't been calm enough for the Doctors to run tests on him properly." Jack ducked his head but felt Sam's fingers on his chin, forcing his eyes to meet hers, demanding the truth. "Worse, I think." He finally admitted, remembering the way Daniel had come up fighting when he had regained consciousness.

xxxxx

Jack hadn't been truly ready for how much worse.

"The last thing he remembers was giving a lecture on his theories about the pyramids and everyone walking out on him. According to Doctor Jackson he had stepped out into the rain, a big black car pulled up and that's where he draws a blank." Doctor Flannigan's eyebrows furrowed in concern when she saw the colour drain from Jack's face. "General?" She prompted, a hand raising to touch his arm lightly.

"Before the Stargate and us. Before even Catherine." Jack whispered in horror.


	4. Shoelaces

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 4 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Four-

Daniel had screamed, but in amongst the screams he had repeated the words "No Sam, don't give them anything" like a mantra.

They'd wanted something from her but she couldn't quite...

Their faces were in shadow but she knew if she could just move her head slightly then she would be able to see who was doing this to her and Daniel.

Her head was so heavy though.

Daniel had then whimpered softly and Sam knew he had just lost something important. He made the same noise every time he did, an exhalation that was almost relief because the pain would stop, albeit briefly. They'd taken a few things from her, just to prove their methods, but they'd been careful. They had wanted her brain intact because they had needed something. They were more callous where Daniel was concerned.

From her they had taken a colour, a childhood pet and something... something significant. She didn't know what that had been and that terrified her more than anything. She was waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop.

A man was speaking and she was able to shift her head finally. She could almost see who it was and she just knew with every fibre of her being if she could just see her tormentor she would know why this was happening.

The dream was fragmenting and she held onto it with both fists, trying to wring this final truth from it by force, but someone was shaking her, speeding her departure. With a final cry of frustration she was yanked from the past and unceremoniously dumped into the present with Jack, his face full of concern, hovering above her.

"Carter? You were having a nightmare."

"What?"

"You were calling for Daniel. Then you just screamed."

xxxxxxx

Daniel was sitting on the infirmary bed in a pair of tracksuit pants and a white undershirt. He had sneakers on and was looking at his dangling feet and the untied laces trailing back and forth as they swung. To the casual observer he would look relaxed, but Jack could tell there was something bothering Daniel because the single tell-tale worry line had appeared between his brows. As Jack watched, Daniel drew one long leg up and captured the ends of the laces with his fingers and stalled. The line between his brow deepened and his mouth pulled down in a grimace of consternation.

Jack knew he would have to kill whoever had done this to his friend, preferably with bare hands.

"Do you want help?" Jack asked gently, aware it would probably make the younger man feel worse that someone was witness to his predicament, but unable to continue to just watch the struggle all the same. Daniel's eyes ticked up and then away, colour rising in his cheeks.

"Tying my shoes? Seems like such a simple thing and I didn't even realise that I couldn't remember how until I had the shoes on." Jack smiled sympathetically and entered the room. He captured the still-dangling foot and drew it up, leaning it on his chest, Daniel mutely accepting the help.

Jack had taught Charlie to tie his shoes with the 'bunny and the rabbit hole' method but thought better of inflicting it on Daniel. Instead he tied them slowly as Daniel watched, possibly cataloguing the method and storing it away for future reference. "Samantha said something about our minds currently being a mine-field of lost skill. I know what she means now."

Jack finished tying the right shoe and Daniel put forward his left like a kid. Jack squashed the urge to grin at the whole ridiculous situation because it wasn't funny for Daniel. He repeated the process, tying the shoelace slowly and carefully so Daniel could follow it, without a word. He tapped the top of Daniel's foot when he was finished and Daniel dropped it from his chest to dangle aimlessly once more. "We were friends, right?"

"Sure are. You remembering something?" Jack grimaced inwardly at Daniel's use of the past tense when referring to their relationship.

"No. I feel comfortable when you're around." Daniel shrugged and his lip quirked up. "Plus, you did just tie my shoes for me and made it seem like a normal thing, even though it's really embarrassing. I was just hoping that was the case." Jack felt a wash of affection flow through him for the younger man at his words, but a spike of pain lanced the good feeling as he realised that most of the casual affection he felt was born from a history of pain and tribulation that Daniel just didn't remember.

Bare hands, he thought grimly. Hopefully with a sarcophagus nearby to resuscitate the bastards and then kill them again.

"How long have I known you?" Simple curiosity was on Daniel's face. Jack looked about himself and spied a stool nearby. He pulled it up and settled himself onto it, knowing when Daniel got going he would be full of questions. Jack didn't begrudge taking the time to answer every single one.

"About nine years or so, including the twelve month gap when you were...out of the country." Jack was aware that the doctors had cautioned him about bombarding Daniel with information too quickly, but still felt a pang as he skirted the truth. Daniel didn't seem to acknowledge his pause, or dismissed it in search of further information.

"It's kinda unlikely, us being friends. You're..." Daniel trailed a hand in the air, searching for the right word.

"Too cool for you?" Jack grinned when Daniel snorted.

"I don't know. Guys like me usually annoy guys like you." He amended. He'd drawn his left leg back up onto the bed and rested his chin on his knee, fingers toying absently with the neatly tied laces.

Jack decided the doctors advice be damned. "You stopped annoying me the moment you died saving my ass." Jack said soberly. Daniel's brows furrowed and he blinked. He opened his mouth to protest but Jack plowed on. "You've died twice, and almost died a bunch of other times, including a time we thought you were dead but you weren't. That first time was the kicker though." Jack paused, not sure if what he was revealing was for Daniel's sake, or his own. He plowed on, hoping it would make at least one of them feel better. "I've been in the military a long stretch, seen a lot of heroic things, but you stepped in front of that staff blast to save me, without even blinking, and I've never seen anything like that." Jack's voice had roughened with emotion and he looked away, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

Jack had rendered Daniel speechless. He'd never seen that before either.

"Actually, that's not entirely true. There was this big Abydonian cow monster that dragged you through the desert. I liked you pretty much from then on."

xxxxxxx

Sam's dread had been building steadily all day. There was definitely something large and horrible that had been removed from her memories and the longer she was in the dark about what it was, the worse the scenarios she had built up in her mind.

Am I married and don't remember it? She thought grimly, as she sat in front of her locker. She knew you weren't supposed to wear jewelry when going offworld and on base, so started to hunt methodically through her civvies and her bag, hoping that she wouldn't find a nasty little surprise.

"Major Carter, are you well?" A deep voice intoned behind her and Sam spun, realising that her search through her personal items had become frantic to the point where she had been flinging shirts, pants and other miscellaneous items behind herself onto the bench, probably muttering all the while. Sam forced herself to stop, breathing hard.

"I'm just worried Teal'c. I lost a year and a couple of little memories, but there's something telling me these guys would have taken out something significant. Daniel lost nine years, which includes any memory of his wife, the Stargate or us. I can't have gotten off so lightly." Sam sunk to the bench behind her, shoving clothing aside to make room. Teal'c watched her passively; the only hint of his inner turmoil at watching his friends suffer was the usual raised eyebrow.

"I came to tell you that O'Neill has received word back from the Tok'ra. Your father will be able to travel here within the day." Teal'c was hoping that news of Jacob Carter would lessen Sam's anguish and give her something to look forward to, but when he saw the colour drain he knew that wouldn't be the case.

As soon as Teal'c had said the words 'your father' Sam had known. She tried to conjure any fleeting memory, his voice or even his face. There was only devastating blankness when she tried to dredge her father from the place in her mind where he should've been.

"Oh God!" Sam's voice broke.

The other shoe had dropped.


	5. Scars

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 5 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Five-

"She doesn't remember Jacob?"

"Correct O'Neill."

"She doesn't remember her Dad?"

"Repeating the words in different variations does not make it any less true, O'Neill."

"But...she doesn't remember him at all?"

Teal'c sighed in good-natured frustration. He knew that Jack acting a little thick sometimes was mostly a put-on, but Jack often gave him occasion to wonder just how much of it was an act. The man thought in simple terms and Teal'c suspected that he dismissed everything more complex as a waste of time unless forced to deal with it. Some people may have seen that as country-dumb, but Teal'c had learned that it was just part of Jack's efficiency. He didn't need to think like Sam or Daniel and so he just didn't.

Jack looked like he was going to ask the same question for the fourth time so Teal'c held up a hand. "She recalls nothing of her Father. Colonel Carter is extremely distressed and I believe Jacob Carter will also be when he arrives."

As if on queue, the klaxons started to sound heralding offworld activation. Jack sighed heavily and then jogged for the 'gateroom. Jacob always expected to be met at the bottom of the ramp by either Sam or himself and he didn't want to worry the older man right off the bat. The event horizon had just collapsed and Jacob was sauntering down the ramp, his boots clanging hollowly on the metal surface, when Jack skidded to a halt at the bottom.

"I'm still not used to seeing you in George's spot." Jacob mused with a smile, holding his hand out in greeting. Jack took the proffered hand and shook it. He liked Jacob a great deal and wasn't looking forward to the bad news he had to impart. He hadn't yet had time to process the ramifications and was holding out hope that Selmac would have some brilliant way to fix everything.

"Always nice to see you Jacob." Jack greeted warmly, but Jacob's eyes were already searching for his daughter and, not finding her in the 'gateroom, clouded in automatic worry.

"Something's happened to Sam hasn't it?" He hazarded, knowing he was only summoned on the direst of circumstances and taking Sam's absence as the confirmation he needed.

"Before you panic, she's ok, for the most part. But yes, something has happened, to both her and Daniel." Jack tried his most reassuring tone.

The alarm on Jacob's face did not subside at all. Jack wished vehemently that Hammond were in his place still, too.

xxxxxx

Sam had gravitated towards the room she knew Daniel was being kept in. She had been given more freedom in the facility because she still remembered the SGC and mostly everything about it. Daniel would have been at a loss and Jack, forgoing his personal misgivings, had ordered that Daniel be restricted to the infirmary. He currently knew nothing about the Stargate and from best guess; his memory had been wiped clean from when Catherine had picked him up in the pouring rain, to the present. Daniel remembered losing his funding and being down to his last few dollars but nothing else.

The disastrous conference that most of his peers had walked out on was what had happened to Daniel only yesterday. Sam was both fascinated and appalled to meet the Daniel Jack had known before Abydos, a man utterly crushed and shunned by the work and community he loved. Sam had met Daniel after he had rescued a whole people and had known the love of an amazing woman. Those kinds of things tended to change a person.

The Daniel that had come back with her had been a lost puppy with no real purpose. He doubted himself and his own beliefs.

He was also weirded out by his seemingly new haircut.

Sam entered the room to see Daniel eying himself critically in the small mirror beside the medicine cabinet. He noticed her entrance in the reflection.

"I was still a civilian right?" He asked.

"That's right. You're only contracted to the SGC. We have a bunch of civilian scientists."

"Did I do this to myself then?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head. Sam knew the face Daniel would be looking at was much different to the one he remembered. Daniel had had longish hair and his face had still been holding onto the slight puppy fat of youth nine years ago. There were lines and hard edges now that she thought would be difficult to reconcile. Daniel lifted his shirt and looked at his chest. Sam couldn't help but giggle. That was definitely different from when she first met him. "Huh." He said in wonder.

Sam was reminded of the recent edition of 'Spiderman' and how the skinny geek had woken up with large muscles from an overnight transition.

While Daniel wasn't big, he was certainly much broader than he used to be, actually a little heavier and more brawny than Jack at the present. His brow furrowed and Sam watched him finger a scar across his lower abdomen where his appendix had been taken out and then a number of scars criss-crossing his chest and stomach. It was a body that had known torture and more pain than it should have and for the first time Sam wondered if Daniel losing that was such a bad thing.

"I don't really want to know where these come from do I?" He asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"You should. Scars are important." Sam disagreed firmly, squashing her earlier thought that Daniel was better off without the knowledge. Their Daniel would want to know everything, despite the pain. "Most of those are from Honduras. You were taken prisoner by some rebels with a lot of spare time." Daniel winced when he came upon a fresh scrape. "That one I don't know." Sam said apologetically. "I'm assuming you got it..." She left the sentence hanging, knowing it would frustrate them both to bring up recent events.

"Someone said your Dad was here." Daniel turned to Sam, lowering his shirt. He saw a look of hurt cross her face and reached out a hand to her arm, but it diverted on its way, dropping back to his side. Sam thought with a pang that Daniel wouldn't be entirely sure if they were close enough for him to touch her casually. It hurt her also to not just grab him and hug him like she used to. She knew it would probably make him uncomfortable.

She was practically a stranger as far as he was concerned.

"I know. They're warning him about my... condition. I do want to see the man, but more out of curiosity than anything else. I don't know if we're close, what he's like or even what he looks like. It doesn't really affect me because I don't feel anything for him even though I should. I can imagine what it's like though." Sam had been through the experience of Daniel forgetting who she was before. She hadn't liked it the first time.

A black fear that she had other people in her life she didn't remember surfaced but she pushed it down to the depths, not really ready for the possibility.

She had to be introduced to her Father first.

One horrible experience at a time, she thought.


	6. Just Like the First Time

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 6 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Six-

Jacob Carter's first instinct was to hug his daughter, but when she held out a stiffly formal hand, he took it and shook with her instead. He was used to her blue eyes filling with warmth when she saw him, lighting up in a way that meant she was genuinely glad to see him, relieved even. Her eyes were now carefully neutral, almost blank. She was smiling but it was a polite curve of the lips and nothing more.

Jacob felt his heart twist when Sam's eyes ticked to Jack and the warmth was immediately there.

"I'll leave you kids to it then." Jack took a few steps towards the door but Sam made a small sound that halted him in his tracks. He turned back slowly and she looked stricken, torn between her nervousness at being left alone with a man she truly didn't remember and her desire not to hurt that same man's feelings. Her hand had drifted out toward Jack.

"Sure, of course." She said firmly, switching her pleading hand to a gesture of dismissal. Jack nodded once and left.

"It's good to see you." Jacob hated how weirdly formal his voice sounded and wondered vaguely if he should just let Selmac handle the whole reintroduction, the Tok'ra always better at dealing with people and their feelings than he had ever been. Selmac stirred within, gently chastising Jacob for being a coward and Jacob's terse reply made Selmac chuckle.

The better question Jacob, Selmac pondered soberly, is does she know about me at all?

Jacob blinked as Sam watched him, a small frown on her face at how strangely quiet he had become. That expression told him everything. Sam used to recognise that when Jacob 'blanked out' it was because he was conversing with his symbiote. Her current puzzlement showed that she was waiting for him to speak and was finding his silence disturbing. Jacob forced a smile to the surface, trying for disarming but knowing it would look strained.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this!" Sam blurted suddenly, spinning on her heel and fleeing from the room. Jacob watched her go, too stunned to do anything but stare open-mouthed as she rounded the corner at the end of the hall and disappeared.

xxxxxx

Sam was crying harder than she had in years and it was into Daniel's lap. She supposed through her muddled fog the one person in the SGC who shared her predicament was the one she would naturally seek out, but was still astounded that even though Daniel, in his own mind, didn't know her from a bar of soap, was still patiently letting her cry herself dry, rubbing soothing circles on her back and making reassuring noises all the while.

She had felt an instant connection to the archeologist when she first met him and wondered if he had also and therefore accepted her presence in good grace, as bedraggled as it was.

Another part knew that she didn't want to show weakness such as this to her team and Daniel, crazily, was just the blend of familiar comfort and virtual stranger that she needed.

When her sobs died down to the occasional sniffle and hiccup, Sam sat up, scrubbing a sleeve across her eyes. "I just thought there would be...something." She said in a watery voice. "I thought that there would be a look he gave me, or his smell, something that would trigger a memory of him. I guess I was in denial about how bad this really is." Sam offered by way of explanation.

"I was told I've had amnesia before and that everything just sort of...came back on its own. You don't think it'll happen this time, do you?" Daniel asked, his brows knitting together in concern. Daniel realised he had also been drifting around in a happy fog of self-delusion, expecting everything to work out just fine. Sam's breakdown had made everything horrifyingly real, including the loss of nine years of his life.

"You started remembering things as soon as you were surrounded by the familiar. I mean, you looked at a photo of Sha're and just knew that she was..." Sam trailed off as she saw the blank look on Daniel's face. Her eyes widened and a hand rose to cover her mouth.

"Who?"

"Daniel-"

"Who is Sha're?" Daniel repeated, hands clamping onto Sam's shoulders. He had been so caught up in not remembering the people that surrounded him that he hadn't yet wondered who was missing.

Sam was remembering her fevered search of her locker and knew the pain Daniel was asking for. She desperately didn't want to be the one that inflicted it but she couldn't see a way out. "Carter!" A voice barked from the doorway and Sam turned, seeing that Jack had appeared. He was looking as stricken as she felt.

"Who, goddamit!" Daniel yelled, making sure that Jack knew he was being included in the demand.

"Daniel-" Jack started, his voice gentle.

"Fine!" Daniel snapped, his tone acid. He slid off the bed and Jack let him pass, assuming that he would head to his usual haven, his office.

"Sir!" Sam exclaimed and Jack remembered that Daniel didn't know where his office would be, or even what the complex was. He also remembered having given the order to keep Daniel confined and he had just let the man loose.

"Ah, crap!" Jack swore. He saw that Daniel had already disappeared around a bend in the corridor and so snatched the internal phone handset from its place on the wall. "We have a security breach." He snapped at the surprised SF who had answered. "Its Doctor Jackson though, so no shooting!"

xxxxxx

Daniel Jackson, running haphazardly through the SGC, was such a common sight that nobody thought to stop him. He was always running late for briefings, missions or lunch. The only time he seemed to walk was when he was forced to accompany another person. He was completely lost within a few minutes. He wasn't one hundred percent sure where he was running to, but he knew he wanted out. Finding an exit was, however, was proving problematic.

Having tried random floors on the elevator and numerous hallways and rooms, he was hoping that if he couldn't find an exit, he could at least find his office.

Assuming he had one.

Daniel spotted a group of four marines, kitted out with backpacks and weapons and figured they had to be leaving. He fell in behind them. A tall, broad-shouldered man, bringing up the rear and cajoling the others for being late, glanced sideways at Daniel and grinned. "Hey Doctor J, I heard a rumour you'd gone crazy." The man guffawed and slapped Daniel on the back.

"Not really...Dixon." Daniel squinted, making out the name stitched across the other man's breast pocket. There was a patch on his arm that read SG-13 and a strange triangular shape. Daniel was tempted to ask him what it meant but didn't want to arouse suspicion. He knew he'd been restricted to the infirmary, apparently for his 'own protection', and wasn't quite sure why he'd been allowed to escape.

Daniel followed the four men into a massive room with blast doors and was astounded by the large metal circle that took pride of place, a ramp leading up to it and symbols on its surface. The circle was spinning and as he watched he heard a voice over a loudspeaker proclaim "Chevron Seven, locked." There was a flash of light and what looked like a wave flowed outwards from the metal circle, before settling back into a shimmering pool.

"Later days and better lays." Dixon said with a wave and he trotted up the ramp behind his men. Daniel watched in open-mouthed wonder as the four men passed through the shimmering circle and did not emerge on the other side.

The light winked out and they were gone.

"DanielJackson." A deep voice rumbled and Daniel turned to see the large man he had been informed was Teal'c, at his elbow.

"What the hell was that?" Daniel asked, his voice small and amazed.

Teal'c quirked an eyebrow.


	7. Penny Drops

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 7 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish time-wise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Seven-

"I should've known this was the best way to keep Daniel in one place." Jack mused, watching the archaeologist pouring over what seemed like hundreds of notebooks and tomes. He'd been escorted back to his office by Teal'c and had become immediately absorbed. Now Jack and Sam watched from the doorway as he retrieved more books from his shelves.

Teal'c sat within the office. Ostensibly he'd been put there to make sure Daniel didn't go wandering the base again, but he had been recruited by Daniel to help with translations, which made the task of babysitting the younger man a more tolerable prospect. Daniel had become fluent in Goa'uld years before and Teal'c had missed the younger man seeking his counsel.

Jack was smiling but when he looked across at Sam, his face fell to mirror hers. She was biting her lip in a way he recognised as meaning she had realised something that hadn't dawned on him yet, something bad. "What is it?" Jack prompted, not sure if he wanted to actually find out.

"Does Daniel realise yet?" She whispered, leaning towards Jack so neither Daniel nor Teal'c would hear her. Jack was pretty certain Daniel wouldn't hear a P90 firing next to his ear, being so engrossed with what he was doing.

"Are you naturally cryptic or do you just do it to bother me?" Jack stage-whispered back and Sam hit his arm.

"Sir, Daniel spent years learning Goa'uld, Ancient, only he knows how many other languages." Sam said meaningfully, nodding towards Daniel who was holding a book out to Teal'c. The Jaffa supplied in English a few passages he'd underlined.

"I know, he's-" Jack blinked as it dawned on him what Sam was alluding to.

"Sir, we have to fix this." Sam said, her voice hollow.

xxxxxx

"I'm not sure I should tell you what I've found out." Three hours later, Jack was sitting at his desk with Jacob in the doorway. Jacob and Selmac had agreed to speak with the Tok'ra counsel and find if there was anyway that they knew of to reverse the damage that had been done to both Sam and Daniel.

Jack had also tried the Asgard, the Nox and any others he could think of but he found them all frustratingly unresponsive.

Jack looked up from the mission briefings he was only pretending to read, grateful for the distraction. "I'm assuming its bad news?" He prompted, shoving the paperwork he had only pulled out of his In Tray five minutes earlier, back into it. He was mightily tempted to shove the lot straight into the bin and feign ignorance but he knew Walter would have a stroke.

"You have to promise not to fly off the handle." Jacob warned.

"Jacob, for cryin' out loud! Spill it." Jack demanded, shoving himself backwards and rising from his office chair to come around his desk. He knew Jacob was currently going through a pretty rough time where Sam was concerned, but he'd been in a throttling mood since both she and Daniel had gone missing and he wished Jacob would not present such a tempting target by being dramatic.

"I was speaking to the council and as you know, Selmac and I haven't exactly been in the loop lately." Jacob started to explain.

"Jacob, I swear to God, if you don't get to the point soon I'm getting my gun." Jack snapped.

Jacob held up his hands. "Alright. Apparently a splinter group of the Tok'ra has formed, some of the members who are a little more…fanatical than a lot of us. They don't think our alliance with the Tau'ri or the Jaffa is beneficial. They actually believe the opposite."

"You'd better not be saying what I think you are." Jack's voice had dropped to a low rumble.

Jacob's voice doubled and his eyes flashed, inidicating that Selmac had stepped forward. "Believe us General, these Tok'ra act without council sanction. It seems the Tok'ra have been trying to apprehend them since they were discovered. Our most recent intelligence suggests that they were targeting Tau'ri to test a device they had stolen from one of our bases, a prototype of a modified ribbon device that was to be used to save our agent's lives. In the wrong hands, unfortunately, it could be used as an instrument of torture."

Jack's whole body had stiffened, his fists clenched.

xxxxxx

"What was I doing on P4X-989?" Sam asked, her face blank.

"I just asked you that." Jack said. When he saw the stormy look on Sam's face, he backtracked. "I mean, just asking it as a rhetorical question out loud. Of course I know you don't remember what you were actually doing there." Jack made a dismissive gesture with his hand, one Sam had learnt meant he realised he was being dense and that she should just ignore it. Sam suspected that he used it to get out of trouble more often than not.

"Selmac thinks that's the big question. The Tok'ra that probably snatched you would know exactly who you were and although they were looking for some Tau'ri test subjects, Selmac doesn't believe they would have risked snatching you and Daniel unless something you were doing perked their interest."

"I've been through my lab a couple of times, trying to find what I was working on before it happened. Nothing there seems important enough." Sam gestured around herself. Jack could believe that if they needed to search Daniel's office it would have taken them years to find what he was working on at the time. Sam's lab was the epitome of order and it would have only taken her a cursory look-see to know what had been her present venture.

"What were you working on just before?"

Sam leaned over the large table in the middle of the lab, fanning some paperwork out. "Just a new way of setting up the dialling sequence in the computer." She said, shrugging. It seemed to her like something she probably would have done during Geek Week. She assumed she was looking for a more efficient way to dial the 'gate. Sometimes speed was the essence, especially when a hostile was dialling into the SGC.

"Anything unusual?" Jack glanced at the paperwork Sam had indicated and grunted, shaking his head. He had no idea what he was looking at and couldn't fathom how Sam could tell what it was from the formulas and scribbles across the five pages that had been revealed.

Sam sighed and took a fresh look, knowing in Jack's current mood he was like a dog with a bone. As her eyes skimmed the pages she heard the gentle rattle that meant Jack had found something to play with and was currently rolling it across her table. She dreaded to think what it was.

The gentle thrumming noise of a thousand-dollar piece of equipment being rolled back and forth across the table like a tennis ball had a hypnotic effect and Sam found herself not looking at the individual components of what her calculations were trying to achieve, but rather the bigger picture.

The simpler picture.

Sam admonished herself for trying to guess at what she had been doing and therefore not actually looking at what she had been working on. Her mind automatically filled in the gaps of all the usual reasons for working on the dialling computer, without taking into account that she was doing something completely out of the ordinary.

"Anything unusual…" Sam whispered. She glanced up at Jack who had tired of his game and was now looking into her microscope, with the wrong eye squinted shut.

He may act dense, she mused, but his deductive leaps often left her questioning her own apparent 'brilliance'.

Daniel appeared in the doorway, Teal'c at his elbow.

"I know what they wanted." Both Daniel and Sam said in unison.


	8. Ninth Chevron

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 8 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish time-wise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Warnings – Reference to a ship introduced in Chapter 8.

-Chapter Eight-

"Hey!" Jack threw his hands up in the air, calling for order. Sam and Daniel had been babbling at each other for the last twenty minutes and Jack still didn't have a straight answer out of either of them. Jack had thought Daniel's dramatic memory loss might have slowed down his apparent symbiosis with Sam but they had quickly fallen back into a form of language shorthand that mystified him.

Jack glanced at Teal'c. "I believe they have figured out what Colonel Carter was working on before our departure." Teal'c said.

"Yeah, I got that much." Jack snapped. "It's the rest I missed."

"Sorry Sir." Sam apologized.

"Yes, sorry about that Colonel."

"Jack." Jack corrected automatically. Daniel had never called him by his title since the first day they met and he didn't want it to start.

"Sir, I was working on the dialing computer because I was getting it to accept a ninth chevron." Sam said, mindful to put her work into layman's terms. She didn't want to further antagonize and already antagonized commanding officer.

"We only go up to seven don't we? Eight if we need to visit the Asgard."

"Haven't you ever looked at the 'gate Sir? There's nine."

Jack blinked.

"It makes sense. I was always curious. I assumed it would be another point in space, allowing more distance but the translations on P4X-989 led me in another direction." Sam glanced at Daniel who was absorbing a lot of information in a very short time. She was always amazed by how adaptable he was and he seemed to be taking everything in stride.

"Well, so, what?" Jack prompted.

Sam nodded to Daniel.

"We think the ninth chevron is actually a point in time." Daniel said.

"Don't we already have a time machine?" Jack grumbled. He didn't know what he expected but he couldn't believe that the Tok'ra rebels would take such a risk for something the humans already had a capacity to do. If they were worried about the timeline or whatever it was Sam always warned them of then they would have to destroy the Puddle Jumper as well.

"The ship we currently have can only make large leaps in times, hundreds, maybe thousands of years at a time. We're talking about being able to pinpoint a specific date. If I'm right-"

"And you usually are." Jack said, his voice level.

"If I'm right, then you could dial Earth but go through the event horizon to a year ago, a week ago. Even yesterday."

"Ah, that is a problem." Jack said, finally getting it.

xxxxx

Jacob looked across at Jack, standing beside him silently. He wanted to be able to judge the man's mood but he had never picked up the knack. Jack could be seething and Jacob couldn't tell. He was loathe to bring another Tok'ra into the SGC but he had little choice considering recent events. He simply didn't have enough knowledge to be useful and he'd risk anything to help his daughter.

He knew no matter how mad Jack was he would so the same.

A woman emerged from the active event horizon, small and demure looking. Jacob recognized her and was glad of the Tok'ra's choice. She was someone that Jack knew and had admitted to liking previously.

"Councilor Sare, it's good to see you." Jacob greeted, stepping up onto the ramp to take the woman's hand. She smiled and nodded her head, stealing a glance behind Jacob at Jack, who hadn't moved.

"Jacob and Selmac, it has been too long and I wish it were under better circumstances, as always." Sare moved passed Jacob and stopped in front of Jack. "I hear it's General O'Neill now. Is it appropriate to congratulate you?"

"I don't think you were on the council last time either. Is it appropriate to congratulate you?"

"Considering someone had to die for me to assume my position, no General, it's not." Sare said crisply. Jack coloured and the anger he had been holding onto tightly for the last few days seemed to drain out of him all at once.

"I'm sorry Councilor, I know you're here to help." Jack apologized, but his eyes hardened. "We might not have needed you at all if we had known there was a group of rebel Tok'ra out there looking to snatch some of my people."

"I happen to agree with you. However, what ifs are not going to help Colonel Carter or Doctor Jackson and that is what I am here for." Jack got the distinct feeling he had just been scolded but before he could respond Sare had taken Jacob's arm and been escorted from the 'gateroom. Jack watched her retreating back and sighed heavily.

xxxxx

"Here it is." Sare held up what looked like a Goa'uld hand device but instead of the usual burnished gold, it was a dull gray metal. Sam supposed the usual hand device was like all Goa'uld hijacked technology, made to be decorative as well as deadly. The plain bracelet with adjoining rings Sare now presented looked like it was made to be functional and nothing more.

"How many of these are there?" Daniel asked warily.

"Two. This and the stolen one." Sare answered.

"Ah, well that's… comforting." Jack said dryly.

"It's lucky we have this one so we can figure out what went wrong." Sare said, rummaging around in the case she had brought for more instruments.

"We know what's wrong. It's been used to wipe our memories." Sam snorted. Sare looked at her with a patient smile.

"I do know that, however what's been done to you is not what this device was intended for." Sare brought a small metal tablet that reminded Sam of a palm pilot and placed it on the table.

"I'm sure. You said it was meant to help the cause." Jack shrugged. "I've heard that about a lot of weapons. Trouble is, they always inevitably fall into the wrong hands and end up biting you in the ass." He smiled tightly, his hand drifting towards the metal tablet. Sare slapped his hand away without looking up.

In way of answer, she brought another object out of her bag. "You know what this is correct?" She asked, holding it towards Sam.

"It's a Healing Device." Sam answered automatically.

"And you've used it?"

"Yes…" Sam's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Did it do what you intended?" Both Daniel and Jack were now watching Sare and Sam carefully. Sam had started chewing on her lower lip. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled at Daniel, but was nervous at divulging what had happened the last time she had tried to use the device. She had almost killed him and currently he had no idea.

"No." She said, her voice small.

"You mean you hurt someone when trying to heal them." Sam caught Jack tensing out of the corner of her eye and knew he was just itching to intervene on her behalf. She glanced at him before answering.

"I tried to heal Daniel when he had radiation poisoning. I'm pretty sure I made things worse." Sam swung her gaze to Daniel who was looking troubled, but not angry. She wondered vaguely if anyone had gotten around to telling him he had died before.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry Sam, but my point is, I'm pretty sure what's happened to you is a result of someone just not knowing what they are doing. The disparity between yours and Daniel's conditions confirms this. This device was created to extract information and transfer it to the user, leaving the target with no memory of what has transpired. The most useful application would be when a Tok'ra operative's identity was discovered. They would remove this information from those that had discovered it and escape if possible. I would assume those that took you wanted information you had gained, but when they tried to erase your memory of being taken they did much more than that."

"Jacob said this could be used as an instrument of torture." Jack said, his voice hard.

"True, but I doubt this is the case here. If these Tok'ra had truly meant you harm, they would not have returned Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson. They probably had no idea what they had done."

"But I've had memories… of torture." Sam said tightly.

"Yes, the device lays a groundwork of false memory to account for the time you lose. They might have thought this the most plausible scenario to you. The fact that you don't actually remember this clearlyand Doctor Jackson doesn't remember it at all, is further evidence that this device was used badly."

Sare sighed. "I don't believe these Tok'ra are evil."

"Neither do any fanatics, but they still blow up buses, shoot presidents and strap explosives to kids." Jack snapped. His head hurt and he was pissed off and he wasn't afraid to show it. "I also think what you've told us is only one use of the device. I think you're keeping something back Sare."

"I can try and reverse the damage General." Sare said mildly. "You can interrogate me afterwards if you wish."

Jack crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't think I won't."


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 9 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Nine-

"Will it hurt?"

"Very much so, yes."

"Um, that's not actually the answer I was looking for."

"I'm sorry Doctor Jackson, did you want me to actually describe the pain in greater detail?"

Daniel carefully studied the face before him, wondering if this woman was actually capable of joking. He paled when he found nothing in her expression to suggest that she was. "Ah, no. I like surprises." Daniel said grimly.

Doctor Flannigan was watching the Tok'ra prepare, her face pensive. "I know I've asked this before, but is this really the only way?" Doctor Flannigan often wondered if she was ready for life in the SGC. She sometimes found herself wishing for a nice clean arm-break to set or appendix to remove.

"To reverse what's been done? Yes." Sare said, her tone all business. Sare placed the modified ribbon device over her wrist and the rings on her fingers and held it up. Daniel flinched backwards automatically.

"Sorry," he said. "I've just been on the wrong end of one of these things far too often."

Sare's eyes filled with a sympathetic understanding and she lowered the device. "Colonel Carter did say she would go first. She still can if you prefer."

Daniel's jaw set. "No, it's fine. Go ahead."

The only other member of SG-1 allowed in the room was a stoic Teal'c. He now placed a comforting hand on Daniel's shoulder. Jack and Sam had both also wanted to attend but Sare had warned that trying to stop the repair prematurely would do Daniel damage. Teal'c had given his word that he wouldn't interfere and Sare had taken it. Jack and Sam had tried the same but she had simply shaken her head, knowing they would not be able to restrain themselves.

"What's going to be so bad?" Jack had demanded.

Sare had looked at him, her eyes serious. "He will beg me to stop before I am done. Will you really be able to hold yourself back?"

Jack had lowered his eyes and Sare had taken that as the only answer she had needed.

When Sare began, Daniel had a few minutes where he thought that perhaps she had been wrong and it wouldn't be all that painful.

Then he screamed.

xxxxx

Jack and Sam sat across the table from each other in the commissary. Jack had a plate of cake and Sam had her usual blue jello. Neither felt much like eating.

Sam was slowly but steadily converting her solid jello into its liquid state by mashing into it over and over with her spoon. "Quit it Carter." Jack snapped. The sound of the spoon scraping against glass was rubbing his last nerve. Sam started guiltily and dropped her utensil with a dull clank.

"Sorry, Sir. I was just thinking – "

"I was waiting for you to start doing that." Jack snorted.

"Anyway, we were told not to bombard Daniel with a lot of info. I'm assuming there's quite a lot of stuff I've missed in the last year." Sam had been so caught up with the problem at hand and the bigger item of losing the memory of her father, that the last year had seemed a tiny thing to lose. She had begun to wonder if there were any major events.

"Lots." Jack said, a small smile tugging at his lip.

"Like?" Sam prompted.

"Stuff." Jack waved a non-committal hand in the air.

"As in?"

"Well, Daniel won a Nobel peace prize, Teal'c got married and divorced all in the same night on a wacky trip to Vegas and I learned the subtle art of Origami."

"Jack," Sam sighed.

"I'm still having trouble with cranes." Jack put his hands together and flapped them.

"Is this your subtle attempt to dodge the question?"

"Sure is. You'll be right as rain in a few hours. You should really fill in your own blanks. I suck at telling other people's stories."

Sam looked at the man across the table from her, who had become suddenly fascinated with the cake before him. He doesn't want to tell me about the bad stuff, she realized. Jack finally looked up and his brows knitted.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't want to give you my warped world view of your life and it's pretty pointless at this…point anyway."

"Okay, Sir." Sam said.

xxxxx

"He's fine. He's restricted to bed-rest for the next three days and he should really take it easy for a few days after that." Sare explained, her tone reassuring. Both Jack and Sam had finally been allowed down to the infirmary and were now looking at a very pale and haggard Daniel lying in one of the infirmary beds. His eyes were closed and his jaw was slack. He didn't so much look like he was sleeping as passed out.

"Is he all… there again?" Jack asked, never one to beat around the proverbial bush.

"He will be. The information recovered will unspool slowly in his mind, allowing him time to adjust."

"Like the Ancient download." Sam supplied.

"We'd better hope not." Jack rubbed his temple.

"He's in no danger and your Doctor Flannigan will monitor him closely. I need to rest for a few hours and then I can begin with Colonel Carter."

Sam smiled grimly. "Great. Can't wait."


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Time Wounds All

Author: Kellifer

Email: kelliferk... (same for MSN addy)

Category: Action / Angst / Team dynamic (mild Sam/Jack UST - canon)

Rating: Chapter 10 - PG

Note - Set mid S8ish timewise but stand-alone so no spoiley spoilers.

Summary: Memory loss, Tok'ra and the Ninth Chevron.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and  
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret  
Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created or entertainment  
No monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks  
was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this  
story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons,  
living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

-Chapter Ten-

Sam's hand grabbed the wrist drifting towards her with the modified ribbon device, twisting it up and away from her face.

"I've been thinking," Sam said.

"General O'Neill mentioned you do that." Sare responded mildly. The position her wrist was being held in must have hurt, but she said nothing.

"There is no rebel Tok'ra group, is there?"

Sare's eyes flicked down and away. Her eyes glowed faintly and it was the symbiote within that answered. "No."

"What the hell is going on?" Sam and Sare were in the infirmary room alone by Sam's request. Since her conversation with Jack she'd been mulling things over and a little voice inside had insisted that everything they'd been told so far was a lie. The little voice she had recognized as Jolinar.

"What do you think?" Sam hated that Sare was being cryptic, but she suspected that the Tok'ra had her reasons.

"The kidnapping of Daniel and me wasn't officially council sanctioned, but they did give the order. Jolinar used to do some pretty distasteful things that the council could wash their hands of if the need arose. We have a name for that, too. It's called Black Ops."

Sam released her grip and Sare took her arm back, rubbing the wrist vaguely. "The Tok'ra found out what I was working on, whether because they were keeping tabs on us or by accident and took it upon themselves to judge whether we were ready for it.

"Which leads to the question, what are you really supposed to be doing here?" Sam crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her chin. She was riled and only when spoken aloud did she realise just now bad things had gotten.

"I am supposed to be making sure that the memory wipe is holding and that you will think that there is nothing that can be done to reverse it."

Sam's mouth dropped open. "But… Daniel. What did you do to him?" Sam felt gooseflesh chase up and down her arms.

"Exactly what I told you. I restored him." Sam blinked and Sare smiled gently. "I know the Tok'ra fear the Tau'ri's capacity for destruction and think they are not ready for the knowledge they have gained, but I have seen your people risk themselves time and again for us and I could not in good conscience be an instrument in your betrayal."

"Sare...," Sam breathed.

"The Tok'ra for a long time were worried about the knowledge Doctor Jackson had gained while being ascended and we, of course, couldn't be sure if what you had told us was true, that he could not access most of it. It's always hard to trust those around you when you are willing to betray their trust in you. They seized the opportunity to make sure he really couldn't. They obliterated the research you had done on the Ninth Chevron because, quite frankly, that knowledge is too dangerous for anyone to know. While I agree with them on this point, it is not for us to decide."

"You were going to restore everything to me?" Sam asked, wonder in her tone.

"When you fight in the trenches, you tend to get dirty. I'm not willing to just accept that," Sare said by way of answer. She raised her arm again hesitantly, waiting for Sam's permission.

Sam was chewing her lip. "I also think it is too dangerous for anyone to know. You could possibly collapse the entire universe. We already know there are alternative realities and who knows what kind of cataclysm we could trigger by messing with those."

Sare lowered her arm again before she spoke. "Doctor Jackson, before we started, requested I restore him up to a few weeks ago. From his research he knows that was when you started working on the ninth chevron research. You found tablets that gave you the clues you needed to pursue your theories."

"Wait, why didn't you tell me this before?" Sam asked. Her head was starting to hurt and she felt that the weight of the world was literally on her shoulders.

"He asked me not to. He said the decision had to be yours." Sare smiled. "I do like the Tau'ri a great deal."

"Really?" Sam smiled back. "Sometimes they bug the hell out of me."

xxxxx

"I was able to restore both Colonel Carter's and Doctor Jackson's memories up until roughly four weeks ago. The short-term memory is harder to repair and there was greater risk. Both agreed to forgo it for safety," Sare was explaining to Jack a few hours later, standing before his desk.

Sam was now in an infirmary bed beside Daniel and would be asleep for another three days.

"Four weeks?" Jack asked, his voice cracking. "Absolutely no recall of them?"

"No, General. Was there something-?"

"No, nothing important." Jack waved a hand dismissively. Jack was remembering a darkened room, a late night and a healthy scare. Sam's forehead had still been a little tender from here a staff blast had grazed her temple. Jack had touched it, looking for signs that she was more hurt than she was letting on. She had taken his hand, meaning to remove it from her skin but instead had held it there. Their eyes had met and then they had both laughed it off but Jack had felt a gentle shift, they had crossed some invisible line.

Sam would now never remember. Jack thought it was probably better that way.

For everyone.

xxxxxx

"They were pretty clear on what we had to get rid of." Jack was sorting through paperwork that he couldn't read, lines and squiggles that meant nothing. They were in Daniel's office and were packing up anything that would give either him or Sam a reason to start up the ninth chevron research again. Jack hadn't really understood Sam's hurried explanation of 'we shouldn't be using short cuts to make an atom bomb' but he trusted her judgment.

"It seems a pity to destroy their work." Teal'c said, pulling photographs into a neat pile.

"We're not." Jack had stopped packing and rubbed his temple with a tired hand. Teal'c looked at him in confusion. "When you break up with someone, you tend to collect all the mementoes together and destroy them. Later, when you've had time to calm down and reflect, you tend to regret it. A good friend will box all your mementoes up and hide them for you. Ready for when you are."

"I do not understand your analogy, O'Neill." Teal'c sighed, sliding the photographs and a manila envelope and putting it on top of the pile Jack had already made.

"We'll be ready for this someday." Jack said, casting his hand over the collected materials. "We might have to be."

Teal'c nodded once. "When our enemies are."

Jack and Teal'c looked at each other, a look passed between haggard soldiers on the front line. They both silently returned to their packing.

xxxxxx

Sare stood on the bottom of the ramp, Jack and Teal'c with her. She held Jack's hands in her own and squeezed them. "I am sorry to say farewell to you, General."

"Ah, it won't be forever."

"I'm afraid it will be." Sadness flitted across Sare's eyes but she smiled through it. "I only hope that the Tok'ra and Tau'ri will someday be true allies. We have enough enemies."

"So why didn't that device work like it should have?" Jack asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He hadn't bought the whole 'Tok'ra ineptitude' explanation. Sare was smiling gently.

"General O'Neill, I may be seen as a traitor to my cause but you would not ask me to admit to sabotaging my own equipment, would you?"

Jack grinned.

"That whole allies thing, I know it's a slow road but while there's sna… Tok'ra like you and Selmak around, I have hope."

"As do I," Teal'c intoned. "Perhaps someday the Tok'ra, Tau'ri and Jaffa can celebrate the downfall of the Goa'uld together."

"I will return on that day." Sare said, her tone speaking of a promise made.

"I'll see you then." Jack grinned.

"I believe you will, O'Neill."

xxxxx

"Doctors orders!" Jack protested. Sam had wrestled Jack to the floor of his cabin and was now smacking him repeatedly on the forehead. He had been admonishing her for not resting as much as she should be and Sam had taken it upon herself to show him that she was back to fighting fit.

Daniel was standing in the doorway, a grin on his face. "Need help?"

"Yes!" Jack yelped as Sam had progressed to poking him in the ribs.

"I wasn't asking you." Daniel chuckled and Jack gave him a dirty look.

"I got it. Thanks, Daniel." Sam laughed as Jack squirmed, trying to release her hold on him. She had taken him by surprise and now had a leg pinned in such a way that he didn't have any real leverage. She knew she would only have a few more seconds despite this. As those thoughts flitted through her mind she felt a strong arm snake around her stomach and then she was being flipped unceremoniously backwards to land on her ass. "Ow. Okay, maybe a little help."

Later, when beer had been drunk and BBQ eaten, Jack stood on the porch of his cabin, Teal'c by his side. They could both hear the gentle snores of Daniel and Sam who had passed out on the couch, curled around each other. Jack had tossed a blanket over them, taking a moment to touch both them gently on the cheek with a knuckle.

"Up until now we have had no secrets." Teal'c said. Jack knew it was hard for the Jaffa to reconcile keeping something from the younger two members of his team. Jack hadn't found the right words to explain it, simply because it didn't sit well with him either.

"T, buddy. We all still have secrets. The last thing I wanted to do was add to them, but it's a future-pay-off type deal." Jack sighed.

"And we will be telling them someday." Teal'c nodded, indicating to Jack that it would be the last time he spoke of it. Jack was grateful.

It was true, they all had secrets. There were still nightmares Daniel had that none of them knew how to allay. There were things he himself had done that he would never be able to tell any of them, and things done to him. He knew Sam was a pretty open book, but she guarded the memories of Jolinar close to her heart. Jack also knew there were horrible things Teal'c had done in his past that he would never forgive himself for, yet never speak of aloud.

There was now a box of paperwork and photographs added to that list.

Someday, Jack thought.

Yes sir, someday.


End file.
